Baghdad violence kills 25

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Guerrillas stormed a police station in southern Baghdad today
and detonated a car bomb outside a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in a tense
northern area of the capital in attacks that killed at least 25
people, police said.

In a well-planned assault shortly after dawn, gunmen fired
mortars at the police station in the Seydiya district before
bursting into the compound and hunting down policemen inside,
survivors of the attack said. They said six police were
wounded.

The insurgents also freed around 50 prisoners from the jail in
the police station and set two police pickup trucks ablaze. Clouds
of thick, dark smoke poured into the air.

In the Adamiyah neighbourhood, a stronghold of Saddam Hussein
supporters where insurgents have launched frequent attacks on US
troops and Iraqi security forces, a car bomb blast outside a mosque
killed at least 14 people, police said.

Adamiyah is a mainly Sunni district. An attack on a Shi'ite
mosque in the area is likely to heighten religious tensions. US
forces say insurgents are trying to incite civil conflict.

Guerrillas trying to drive out US-led troops and overthrow the
American-backed government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi have
mounted repeated attacks on Iraqi security forces, targeting police
stations and checkpoints with suicide bombs and kidnapping and
killing scores of police and National Guard.

In Mosul last month, insurgents stormed several police stations,
looting them of weapons and equipment. Most police in the city
deserted their posts and fled. More than 60 bodies were also found
dumped in Mosul last month, believed to be Iraqi soldiers and
National Guardsmen abducted and killed by gunmen.

The violence threatens to derail Iraq's first democratic
elections in decades, scheduled for January 30. The US military has
acknowledged that insurgent violence will intensify as the poll
approaches and has announced it will increase its troop strength in
Iraq to 150,000 - the highest ever figure.

Many among Iraq's 20 per cent Sunni Arab minority - from which
the insurgency draws the core of its support -- have called for a
delay in the elections, saying that violence in Sunni areas will
prevent the polls being free and fair.

Sunni Arabs, who dominated Iraq during the rule of Saddam, fear
they will be marginalised in the new Iraq, as the 60 per cent
Shi'ite majority exercises its newfound political clout.

Shi'ites, however, insist that the elections should go ahead on
time, arguing that any delay would be a surrender to terrorism.
Iraq's Kurds in the north say they are ready for elections, but
would accept a delay if others wanted it.

Several Sunni Arabs parties say they will boycott the elections
if they go ahead on time.

In contrast, Shi'ites and Kurds are already planning how they
can maximise their gains from the elections. Most Shi'ite parties
plan an alliance to contest the election on a single slate, so that
the Shi'ite vote is not split. The main Kurdish parties have
already made a similar agreement.

Shi'ite and Kurdish politicians have been urging voters to
register and prepare for the polls. But in several Sunni areas,
voter registration has not even got under way. Guerrillas have
intimidated election officials and told merchants they will be
killed if they distribute voter registration forms.

Fallujah, one of the main Sunni cities, remains a ghost town -
more than 200,000 residents fled ahead of a major US offensive
there last month and have yet to return. Other Sunni cities like
Ramadi, Mosul and Samarra are the focus of frequent guerrilla
violence that may prevent elections being held there.

Some Sunni politicians warn that if the elections go ahead but
with many Sunnis unable or unwilling to participate, the insurgency
in Iraq will only worsen.